Leigh suffer fresh injury blow in Hull FC win as Owen Trout absence explained

Leigh winger AJ Towse strained his hamstring in their win over Hull FC, with forward Owen Trout absent from the clash due to ‘personal issues’, Leopards head coach Adrian Lam has confirmed.

Towse, 22, grabbed a try late on in the first half in Friday night’s Super League encounter at the Leopards’ Den to send the hosts into the sheds with a 12-6 lead.

But just four minutes into the second half, he had to be withdrawn after pulling up while chasing opposite number Harvey Barron downfield.

In the set prior, Towse had dotted the ball down for what had appeared to be his second try of the evening, only for it to be disallowed by the video referee having just placed his foot into touch in the act of grounding.

Leigh Leopards suffer fresh injury blow in Hull FC win as AJ Towse sidelined

Bailey Hodgson replaced Towse and went on to grab a try of his own in what turned out to be a rout, with Leigh ending up comfortable 42-6 winners on home soil.

Speaking post-match, boss Lam revealed the news of the young winger’s injury, saying: “He’s strained his hamstring, AJ, so that’s definitely going to be at least three or four weeks.

“He’s unlucky not to score at the other end, and because that happened, he chased back on the next set and over-strided.

“That’s not ideal, but we’ve got to push on.”

However, there was positive news on team-mate Frankie Halton, another of the try-scorers on the night.

The back-rower left the field with 13 minutes left on the clock, but Lam confirmed: “It was precaution, he got a knee to his knee, a bit of a corker. But I think he’ll be fine.”

Owen Trout absence explained as duo set to return

Leigh return to action on June 5 with a trip to Castleford Tigers, with their only long-term absentees now Keanan Brand and Andy Badrock.

Utility forward Trout, who is off to the NRL come the end of the season, did not feature against Hull.

Lam explained: “It was some personal issues, which we’ll deal with as a club as we go on.

“It’s nothing too much to stress about.”

Friday night’s victory over the Black and Whites was Leigh’s final home game until mid-July, with trips to Cas, Bradford Bulls, Hull KR, Toulouse Olympique and their Magic Weekend clash against Warrington Wolves to come.

The Leopards boss added: “When we come back, we play Round 13 (against Cas) and I think Robbie Mulhern and Matty Davis are back for that.

“(Aaron) Pene might be around for that as well, so we are getting some bodies back.”